Gregory's Server
 16 comments
 @nikitonsky because the 360 refers to “xbox 360”. there’s no xbox 100; it simply would not make sense  @nikitonsky the french revolutionaries actually tried to reform that as well when establishing the metric system, but they were unable to before the counter-revolutionaries prevented it  @nikitonsky it's just one circle, so of course it's 36O. If it were two circles it could be 1OO.  @nikitonsky The right answer (because of the way people counted on their hands 7k years ago) is already pretty wrong 😆 @nikitonsky Ancient Near Eastern cultures counted to 12 on one hand by moving the thumb along the pattern of red numbers I’ve added to this image. To count higher, they’d add 12/finger on the other hand, which got them to 60 using both hands. Mesopotamian mathematicians codified this into a base-60 number system, which is why we have 60 minutes/60 seconds/360º (6 x 60), &c. (The one-handed 12 is also why the first Egyptian sundials had twelve divisions, so we have 12 hours/day.) @nikitonsky They *could* have counted many ways — to 9999 on two hands like this image from the 1400s, for example — but this is how they did it. 360: they did maths differently (all fractions, division via multiplication by reciprocal, &c) using pre-computed tables and a “squared circle” approach for trig-ish things (no angles!). 360 was both precise enough for surveying and easy to use with their system. There’s also an Egyptian astronomy tie-in, but that’s another story… @nikitonsky originally it was 1400 in Greece in base 6. So when they converted it to base 10, they ended up with 360 ⭕️  @nikitonsky It started at 100 but over the years inflation took it to 360. It’s literally a bubble.  @nikitonsky Originally the year had 360 days and 3 leap weeks every 4 years.  Because anything over 360° was simply too hot. Conversely, 100° wasn't hot enough |
@nikitonsky it just... IS, STOP QUESTIONING!!!